Ceramic by Ali Hirst
Small Pebble
Ali Hirst
I am a potter. My work is hand-built and inspired by the natural and man-made forms, textures and patterns that surround us in our everyday lives. I enjoy noticing detail which could be a stone moulding on a historic building, to patterns on a 1950’s Formica tabletop, to the delicate colours of a native butterfly or beach pebbles worn smooth by the ebb and flow of the tide.
I have developed a combination of slabbing, coiling and sprigging techniques. Using drop moulds and coils to meticulously build the forms.
I really enjoy expressing myself in the act of making - where I enter a private place between me, my mind and the clay.
I am inspired by the practical challenge of using my skills as a hand-builder, learning what the clay can do for me and what I can do with it. In my recent work I am exploring coloured slips and underglazes, using transfers and gold lustre to create images on the surface of the clay.
Clay: grogged white earthenware; Glaze: clear earthenware fired to 1060 degrees; Decoration: coloured slips, underglaze colours, ceramic transfers and gold lustre.
White Earthenware, Slip Stencilling , Gold Lustre
6.5x5.5cm